Americans United - Liberty Counselhttps://au.org/tags/liberty-counsel
enJust In Case You Were Wondering, Yes, The Religious Right Is Still Mad Over Marriage Equalityhttps://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/just-in-case-you-were-wondering-yes-the-religious-right-is-still-mad-over
<a href="/about/people/rob-boston">Rob Boston</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>The U.S. Supreme Court upheld marriage equality almost two years ago, and some supporters of the Religious Right are still smarting about that.</p>
<p>They carp loudly, but these sore losers are running out of options. The high court’s ruling in <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/2014/14-556"><em>Obergefell v. Hodges</em></a> means that marriage equality is recognized in all 50 states. Religious Right groups had predicted that this decision would lead to the <a href="http://www.au.org/church-state/december-2014-church-state/featured/apocalypse-now">collapse of civilization</a> and that pastors <a href="http://numberofministersforcedtomarrysamesexcouples.com/">would be compelled</a> to preside at the wedding ceremonies of same-sex couples. Those things haven’t happened.</p>
<p>Add in the fact that most of the American public accepted the decision with little fanfare and <a href="http://www.gallup.com/poll/191645/americans-support-gay-marriage-remains-high.aspx">supports marriage equality</a>, and you can understand why leaders of Religious Right groups and their supporters are feeling so blue.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="/files/same%20sex%20couple%20with%20kid.jpg" style="width: 800px; height: 534px;" /></p>
<p><em>This family is not a threat to Western Civilization. </em></p>
<p>But they haven’t given up just yet. In a stunning display of immaturity, some marriage equality opponents are filing frivolous lawsuits in the courts seeking the right to marry animals and inanimate objects.</p>
<p>One of these cases, <em>Sevier v. Bevin</em>, was recently rejected by a federal court in Kentucky. Two individuals filed the case, seeking the right to marry a parrot and a laptop computer.</p>
<p>U.S. District Judge Henry R. Wilhoit Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky dismissed this nonsense in a brief opinion.</p>
<p>“Plaintiffs are asking this Court to recognize their constitutional rights to marry an inanimate object and an animal,” Wilhoit wrote. “No such constitutional rights exist, nor are any known constitutional rights violated by the denial of a marriage license under these circumstances. In short, the Plaintiffs have failed to identify a single constitutional injury.”</p>
<p>The <a href="http://religionclause.blogspot.com/2017/04/court-dismisses-fanciful-suit-designed.html">Religion Clause Blog</a> charitably called the lawsuit “rather fanciful.” I’d call it something else: mean-spirited and hateful. This lawsuit, and a few others like it in other states, have been brought by a man named Chris Sevier as a protest against marriage equality. Sevier, who has a <a href="http://www.rawstory.com/2016/04/accused-stalker-trying-to-undo-same-sex-marriage-by-suing-for-right-to-marry-his-prn-filled-computer/">checkered legal history</a>, claims he wants to marry his laptop, but all he’s doing is clogging courts with suits that are bound to go nowhere. Sevier is just making himself look foolish. How this is helpful to his sad cause is anyone’s guess.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, at least one Religious Right honcho thinks Sevier is on to something. Liberty Counsel issued a <a href="http://www.lc.org/newsroom/details/040317-laptop-and-parrot-marriage-case-against-kim-davis-dismissed">press release</a> quoting its chairman, Mat Staver: “To marry a laptop computer or a parrot is nonsense, but the same was said about same-sex marriage, and yet there are now five lawyers on the U.S Supreme Court who pulled that rabbit out of a hat.”</p>
<p>Staver goes on to trot out this old chestnut: “Deconstructing nature comes with a price. Unfortunately, children will be directly affected by the deconstruction of natural marriage.”</p>
<p>Religious Right groups brought this matter up <em>ad nauseum</em> during the debate prior to the <em>Obergefell</em> ruling. They were never able to point to any legitimate research showing that marriage equality harms children, and for good reason: <a href="http://whatweknow.law.columbia.edu/topics/lgbt-equality/what-does-the-scholarly-research-say-about-the-wellbeing-of-children-with-gay-or-lesbian-parents/">There isn’t any</a>.</p>
<p>You know what does harm children? Putting their parents’ relationship in legal limbo and encouraging society to look at loving and stable unions with hate, fear and disdain.</p>
<p>Thankfully, more and more Americans are rejecting the Religious Right’s view of marriage equality. And if these groups keep backing pathetic and desperate lawsuits like the ones filed by Sevier, that number is only going to keep growing.</p>
<p>P.S. The legal battle for marriage equality may be over, but members of the LGBTQ community still face threats – such as attempts to use religion as a vehicle to discriminate against them. AU is fighting back, and you can keep on top of the latest developments through our <a href="http://www.protectthyneighbor.org/">Protect Thy Neighbor</a> project.</p>
<p> </p>
</div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/marriage">Marriage</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/descriptions-and-activities-religious-right-groups">Descriptions and Activities of Religious Right Groups</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/marriage-equality-0">Marriage Equality</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/obergefell-v-hodges">Obergefell v Hodges</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/supreme-court">Supreme Court</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/judge-henry-r-wilhoit-jr">Judge Henry R. Wilhoit Jr.</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/kentucky">kentucky</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/religion-clause-blog">Religion Clause Blog</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/chris-sevier">Chris Sevier</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/mat-staver">Mat Staver</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/liberty-counsel">Liberty Counsel</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/protect-thy-neighbor">Protect Thy Neighbor</a></span></div></div>Wed, 05 Apr 2017 13:40:56 +0000Rob Boston12848 at https://au.orghttps://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/just-in-case-you-were-wondering-yes-the-religious-right-is-still-mad-over#commentsNo Moore Embarrassment: Good Riddance To Alabama’s Disgracehttps://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/no-moore-embarrassment-good-riddance-to-alabama-s-disgrace
<a href="/about/people/rob-boston">Rob Boston</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>Good news from Alabama: Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore has been suspended from the court without pay for the remainder of his term.</p>
<p>Technically, Moore has not been removed from office, but <a href="https://au.org/files/roymoore_finaljudgment_09302016.pdf">today’s decision</a> by the Alabama Court of the Judiciary has that effect. He has been suspended for the rest of his term, and he can’t run again because Alabama law prohibits anyone older than 70 from being appointed to or elected to the bench. (Moore will turn 70 in February.)</p>
<p>Moore, you’ll recall, took several actions to block marriage equality in the state even after the U.S. Supreme Court made it clear in 2015’s <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/14pdf/14-556_3204.pdf"><em>Obergefell v. Hodges</em></a> ruling that state laws and constitutional amendments that limited marriage to heterosexual couples were unconstitutional.</p>
<p>A slew of complaints was filed against Moore before Alabama’s Judicial Inquiry Commission. That body investigated the matter and recommended that Moore face trial. Yesterday Moore, aided by his attorney, Mat Staver of Liberty Counsel, went before the Alabama Court of the Judiciary. Today that body issued a 50-page ruling, finding Moore guilty on six counts.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="/files/judge%20stuff.jpg" style="width: 800px; height: 534px;" /></p>
<p><em>Here are some things Roy Moore will no longer be needing. </em></p>
<p>Moore’s problems stem from a Jan. 6, 2016, “administrative order” he issued to Alabama probate judges instructing them not to perform marriages for same-sex couples. This order – issued six months after the <em>Obergefell</em> ruling – was clearly designed to sow confusion and lead some probate judges to stop honoring marriage equality. Many of the judges ignored it, but a few chose to listen to Moore. As a result, some same-sex couples were denied their rights.</p>
<p>To rectify that, Americans United and allied groups had to intervene. We <a href="http://au.org/our-work/legal/lawsuits/strawser-v-strange-0">secured a federal order</a> that permanently prevents the state from enforcing its old marriage equality ban.</p>
<p>According to the Court of the Judiciary, Moore’s brazen administrative order represented “a failure to follow clear law and a failure to uphold the integrity and independence of the judiciary.”</p>
<p>The Court of the Judiciary found that Moore interpreted the law in a manner that was “incomplete, misleading and manipulative.” The court also said Moore “substituted his judgment for the judgment of the entire Alabama Supreme Court on a substantive legal issue in a case the pending in that Court….”</p>
<p>If all of this sounds familiar, there’s a reason. This is the second time Moore has been sanctioned by the Court of the Judiciary. In 2003, he was removed from the court after he defied a federal court order to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the state Judicial Building in Montgomery.</p>
<p>Americans United knows a lot about that case. We <a href="http://www.au.org/church-state/september-2003-church-state/featured/commandment-from-the-court">brought the challenge</a> to the government-sponsored Decalogue along with the American Civil Liberties Union and the Southern Poverty Law Center.</p>
<p>In short, Moore has a track record of defying federal courts. He seems to think he can make the law say whatever he wants it to. He’s wrong.</p>
<p>We thought we were shed of Moore in 2003. But Alabama voters, for some reason, reelected him to the state high court in 2012. This time, he really is through – as a judge, at least. He could still run for governor or some other office.</p>
<p>That’s something to worry about later. Today we celebrate. Roy Moore has done all the damage he can to Alabama’s courts. He’s an embarrassment, a theocrat whose legal views are anchored in the fever swamps of long-discredited, pre-Civil War legal theories of “states’ rights.” </p>
<p>Moore, who has only himself to blame for his predicament, has disgraced the state of Alabama long enough. We’re happy to see him go.</p>
</div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/marriage">Marriage</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/descriptions-and-activities-religious-right-groups">Descriptions and Activities of Religious Right Groups</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/roy-moore">Roy Moore</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/alabama">Alabama</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/aclu-of-alabama">ACLU of Alabama</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/southern-poverty-law-center">Southern Poverty Law Center</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/alabama-court-of-the-judiciary">Alabama Court of the Judiciary</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/judicial-inquiry-commision">Judicial Inquiry Commision</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/mat-staver">Mat Staver</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/liberty-counsel">Liberty Counsel</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/ten-commandments">ten commandments</a></span></div></div>Fri, 30 Sep 2016 18:50:08 +0000Rob Boston12372 at https://au.orghttps://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/no-moore-embarrassment-good-riddance-to-alabama-s-disgrace#commentsAlabama Chief Justice To Face Trial Again On Ethics Chargeshttps://au.org/church-state/september-2016-church-state/people-events/alabama-chief-justice-to-face-trial-again-on
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore will go on trial this month on charges that he violated judicial ethics.</p>
<p>The Alabama Court of the Judiciary, a state oversight body, issued a brief order last month denying Moore’s request to dismiss the charges against him. His trial is scheduled for Sept. 28, reported the news site Al.com.</p>
<p>Moore stands accused of attempting to interfere with federal court rulings favoring marriage equality. After a federal judge struck down an Alabama law barring same-sex marriage in 2014, Moore sent a letter to Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley (R) questioning the authority of the federal courts to nullify Alabama laws. (Americans United represented several plaintiffs in the Alabama marriage equality case, <em>Strawser v. Strange</em>.)</p>
<p>Six months after the U.S. Sup­reme Court extended marriage equality nationwide in June of 2015, Moore issued an “administrative order” to probate judges in the state insisting that marriage equality was still not legal in Alabama. The order was clearly designed to dissuade the judges from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.</p>
<p>A number of individuals filed complaints against Moore, and the state’s Judicial Inquiry Commission began investigating the matter.</p>
<p>If Moore is removed from the bench, it will be the second time that has happened. He was kicked off the court in 2003 for defying a federal court order to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the Judicial Building in Montgomery. Americans United, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Southern Poverty Law Center sued Moore over that display in 2000.</p>
<p>Moore is being defended by Mat Staver of Liberty Counsel, a Religious Right legal group.</p>
</div></div><div class="field field-name-field-cs-department field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">People &amp; Events</div></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/outside-workplace-discrimination-exemptions-religious-practice-including-military-prisons">Institutional Discrimination, Exemptions &amp; Religious Practice (Including Immigration, Military, Prisons &amp; Healthcare)</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/religious-refusals-and-rfra">Religious Refusals and RFRA</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/marriage">Marriage</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/descriptions-and-activities-religious-right-groups">Descriptions and Activities of Religious Right Groups</a></span></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-cs-issue field-type-node-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Magazine Issue:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><article id="node-12294" class="node node-church-state-issue clearfix">
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The <span class="cs-month field">September</span> <span class="cs-year field"><span class="date-display-single">2016</span></span> issue of <em>Church &amp; State</em>
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</div></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/roy-moore">Roy Moore</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/alabama">Alabama</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/lgbt-rights">LGBT rights</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/mat-staver">Mat Staver</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/liberty-counsel">Liberty Counsel</a></span></div></div>Thu, 01 Sep 2016 12:46:34 +0000Timothy Ritz12316 at https://au.orghttps://au.org/church-state/september-2016-church-state/people-events/alabama-chief-justice-to-face-trial-again-on#commentsStaver’s Switcheroo: Religious Right Attorney Who Said Satanic Clubs Have A Right To Meet In Schools Now Might Sue To Stop Themhttps://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/staver-s-switcheroo-religious-right-attorney-who-said-satanic-clubs-have-a
<a href="/about/people/simon-brown">Simon Brown</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>In a predictable twist, a prominent Religious Right attorney who recently said after public school Satanic clubs have a “right to meet” is now threatening to sue if those clubs are actually allowed to form.</p>
<p><a href="http://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/satan-goes-to-school-group-plans-devilishly-clever-response-to-evangelical">As we reported earlier this week</a>, the Satanic Temple is seeking to create “After School Satan Clubs” in public schools in several states in response to the activities of local Good News Clubs. </p>
<p>The Satanic Temple is a humanist group that supports separation of church and state and rebellion against traditional religious dogma. Its proposed after-school sessions would emphasize things like critical thinking and science.</p>
<p>Good News Clubs, which also meet after school hours, are run by an outside organization, Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF), which works aggressively to indoctrinate children into fundamentalist Christianity. CEF members believe that children as young as 5 <a href="http://www.au.org/church-state/january-2001-church-state/featured/evangelism-public-schools-and-the-supreme-court">are sinners</a> who can make faith professions; they even use “wordless books” aimed at children who haven’t yet learned to read.</p>
<p>Even though such clubs operate in public schools, the U.S. Supreme Court said back in 2001 that if public schools have a policy of allowing outside groups to use their space, they must treat all equally. This means that schools with these policies cannot exclude religious clubs, but it also means that schools cannot give them special treatment.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="/files/m%20staver%202.jpg" style="width: 700px; height: 467px;" /></p>
<p><em>Liberty Counsel's Mat Staver says Good News Clubs have the right to meet in public schools but Satanic clubs don't. </em></p>
<p>Initially, at least, it seems Liberty Counsel head Mat Staver didn’t have a problem with the concept of After School Satan Clubs. Staver, who <a href="http://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/keeping-secrets-kim-davis-accused-of-violating-ky-open-records-law">represents</a> anti-gay Rowan County, Ky., Clerk Kim Davis, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/an-after-school-satan-club-could-be-coming-to-your-kids-elementary-school/2016/07/30/63f485e6-5427-11e6-88eb-7dda4e2f2aec_story.html">said just last month</a> that there is no legal basis for preventing the clubs from meeting after school.</p>
<p>“I would definitely oppose after­-school Satanic clubs, but they have a First Amendment right to meet,” Staver said. “I suspect, in this particular case, I can’t imagine there’s going to be a lot of students participating in this. It’s probably dust they’re kicking up and is likely to fade away in the near future for lack of interest.”</p>
<p>It seems this week things have changed in Staver’s world. Now he’s <a href="http://www.lc.org/newsroom/details/080216-satanist-group-has-no-right-to-disrupt-school">looking to sue</a>, having offered his services for free to any school that receives a request to form a Satan club.</p>
<p>“The so-called Satanist group has nothing good to offer the students and its entire reason for existence is to be disruptive,” Staver thundered in a media statement. “Schools do not have to tolerate groups which disrupt the school and target other legitimate clubs. No sane parents would consent to allow their child to attend this group. Full of sound and fury, this group will soon fade away.”</p>
<p>It’s nice to see that Staver <a href="http://nfs.sparknotes.com/macbeth/page_202.html">knows some Shakespeare</a>. And while it’s difficult to say if any schools will take Liberty Counsel up on its offer, given Staver’s own admission that Satan clubs have the right to meet, it seems unlikely that he will succeed.</p>
<p>The Religious Right fought hard to make sure Good News Clubs can meet in public schools. The tradeoff for that victory was the right to equal access – meaning if an evangelical Christian club can meet, a Satan club has that same right. It’s all or nothing.</p>
<p>But as usual, the Religious Right wants it all while conceding nothing to its opponents. Sorry to break it to you, Mat, but that’s not how this works. You pried open the door so the Good News Club could enter public schools. You shouldn’t be surprised that others want to come in as well.</p>
<p> </p>
</div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/use-school-buildings-religious-groups-during-non-school-hours">Use of School Buildings by Religious Groups</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/liberty-counsel">Liberty Counsel</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/mat-staver">Mat Staver</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/the-satanic-temple">the Satanic Temple</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/good-news-clubs">Good News Clubs</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/child-evangelism-fellowship">Child Evangelism Fellowship</a></span></div></div>Thu, 04 Aug 2016 15:33:37 +0000Simon Brown12251 at https://au.orghttps://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/staver-s-switcheroo-religious-right-attorney-who-said-satanic-clubs-have-a#commentsAbove The Law?: Ala. Chief Jurist Demands No Accountabilityhttps://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/above-the-law-ala-chief-jurist-demands-no-accountability
<a href="/about/people/rob-boston">Rob Boston</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-callout field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Roy Moore openly defied a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court. He ordered lower court judges in the state to deny citizens a right the high court said they had. He did this knowingly. He was flagrant about it. He was motivated not by respect for the law but by his own extreme religious views.</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore is in legal hot water again and has no one to blame but himself – but, as usual, he doesn’t want to accept responsibility for his actions.</p>
<p>As we reported previously, Moore has been <a href="https://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/no-moore-please-ala-chief-justice-may-be-removed-from-the-bench">temporarily suspended</a> from the Alabama Supreme Court in the wake of charges that were filed against him by the Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission. The commission, acting on complaints filed by state residents, sent the matter to the Alabama Court of the Judiciary, which will investigate. If Moore is found guilty, he could be removed from the court.</p>
<p>All of this came about because Moore decided to defy the U.S. Supreme Court on the issue of marriage equality. In June of 2015, the high court handed down a decision in <em><a href="http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/14pdf/14-556_3204.pdf">Obergefell v. Hodges</a></em> recognizing the right of same-sex couples to marry under the Equal Protection and Due Process clauses of the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment. Moore responded a few months later by issuing a strange administrative order directing all probate judges in the state to refuse marriages licenses to same-sex couples.</p>
<p>To no one’s surprise, this brazen act of defiance of the highest court in the land got Moore in trouble. The charges are serious and deserve a full hearing, and Moore should have every opportunity to offer a defense. But rather than take part in this process, Moore is trying to gum up the works: <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/suspended-alabama-chief-justice-sues-state-judicial-panel-39439006">He is suing</a> in federal court, arguing that a provision in Alabama law requiring that state judges be suspended while they are facing ethics charges is unconstitutional.</p>
<p>Moore’s lawsuit, the Associated Press reported, contends that the Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission “can wield its significant power over Alabama’s elected judges – including the chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court – based upon trivialities, viewpoint-based objections, differences in legal interpretation, political motivations or, even worse, to protect itself from investigation of violations of its own rules.”</p>
<p>Mat Staver of Liberty Counsel is representing Moore in court. Staver said, “We are asking the federal court to strike down the automatic removal provision in the Alabama State Constitution and we are asking that Chief Justice Moore be immediately reinstated.”</p>
<p>Talk about chutzpah! Moore openly defied a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court. He ordered lower court judges in the state to deny citizens a right the high court said they had. He did this knowingly. He was flagrant about it. He was motivated not by respect for the law but by his own extreme religious views.</p>
<p>And now he’s arguing that no state entity should be able to hold him accountable for his unlawful actions.</p>
<p>As you may recall, this is the second time Moore has tangled with judicial oversight bodies in Alabama. The first incident didn’t end well for him. Moore ignored a federal court ruling and refused to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the Judicial Building in Montgomery. (The legal challenge, by the way, was brought by Americans United, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Southern Poverty Law Center.)</p>
<p>In 2003, Moore was removed from the court for his antics. He ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2006 and 2010. While Alabama voters rejected him for the governor’s mansion, they did see fit for some reason to return him to the state high court in 2012. Once back on the bench, Moore was soon up to his old tricks of attempting to merge his version of fundamentalist Christianity with the law.</p>
<p>Moore seems utterly incapable of engaging in any form of self-reflection. He wouldn’t be in this mess if he hadn’t disobeyed a higher court’s ruling. But it’s never his fault, is it? The Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission must be to blame. (I thought conservatives were supposed to be for personal responsibility?)</p>
<p>Here’s hoping the federal court quickly disposes of Moore’s lawsuit, clearing the way for him to be held accountable for the mess that he – and only he – has made.</p>
<p> </p>
</div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/marriage">Marriage</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/descriptions-and-activities-religious-right-groups">Descriptions and Activities of Religious Right Groups</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/roy-moore">Roy Moore</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/alabama">Alabama</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/aclu">ACLU</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/southern-poverty-law-center">Southern Poverty Law Center</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/mat-staver">Mat Staver</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/liberty-counsel">Liberty Counsel</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/alabama-judicial-inquiry-commission">Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/alabama-court-of-the-judiciary">Alabama Court of the Judiciary</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/marriage-equality-0">Marriage Equality</a></span></div></div>Tue, 31 May 2016 14:29:59 +0000Rob Boston11983 at https://au.orghttps://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/above-the-law-ala-chief-jurist-demands-no-accountability#commentsBluegrass Bonanza: Ky. Theocrat Loses Grip On Statehouse Seathttps://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/bluegrass-bonanza-ky-theocrat-loses-grip-on-statehouse-seat
<a href="/about/people/rob-boston">Rob Boston</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-callout field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">In the 1970s when the musical “Hair” played in Louisville, Tom Riner, bothered by nudity in the show, leaped on stage and disrupted the performance by waving a Bible.</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>Political news of late has been dominated by three people – Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. They’ve certainly provided good copy, but there are some other things going on politically that you might not have heard about.</p><p>Let’s consider Kentucky, for example. The commonwealth has been the site of mostly bad news lately. Ken Ham’s “Ark Park” is getting <a href="https://www.au.org/church-state/march-2016-church-state/people-events/ky-ark-park-wins-legal-case-securing-tax">taxpayer incentives</a>, and the state’s Republican governor, Matt Bevin, is thrilled.</p><p>But something else happened in Kentucky recently that provides at least some good news: State Rep. Tom Riner lost his primary. He’ll be leaving the state House of Representatives.</p><p>Riner’s name might sound familiar to long-time readers. In 2006, Riner, a Democrat and Baptist minister, <a href="https://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/homeland-insecurity-kentucky-battles-terrorism-with-a-plaque-honoring-god">added language to a bill</a> dealing with state security issues declaring that “The safety and security of the Commonwealth cannot be achieved apart from reliance upon Almighty God.” The practical effect of this was that a plaque containing that language was installed at the Emergency Operations Center, and religious language was added to reports issued by the state’s Homeland Security Office.</p><p>But that was hardly Riner’s only offense. He served in the state legislature for more than 30 years. From that perch he constantly introduced bills promoting creationism, government displays of the Ten Commandments and other mixes of church and state. He's also the guy who hooked up law-defying county clerk Kim Davis <a href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/dispatches/2015/09/15/ky-legislator-liberty-counsel-would-never-exploit-kim-davis/">with Liberty Counsel</a>.</p><p>In January of 2009, <em>The New York Times</em> profiled Riner in a story headlined, “Lawmaker in Kentucky Mixes Piety and Politics.” The piece by reporter Ian Urbina noted, “For more than 30 years, Mr. Riner’s singular devotion has been to inject God into the public arena…” and pointed out that this quest has taken Riner “across the constitutional barrier between church and state.”</p><p>The lawmaker wasn’t bothered by this. He told <em>The Times</em>, “The church-state divide is not a line I see. What I do see is an attempt to separate America from its history of perceiving itself as a nation under God.”</p><p>Riner’s proselytizing has long roots. Friends recalled an incident in the 1970s when the musical “Hair” played in Louisville. Bothered by nudity in the show, Riner leaped on stage and disrupted the performance by waving a Bible. And the policies he promoted ran in his family. In the 1970s, his wife, Claudia, also served in the state legislature. Just like Riner, she sponsored a Ten Commandments bill. Hers required public schools to post the Decalogue, and the U.S. Supreme Court struck it down in 1980’s <em><a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/1980/80-321">Stone v. Graham ruling</a></em>.</p><p>Riner’s district includes parts of Louisville and surrounding Jefferson County. During a May 17 primary election, voters <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/kentucky-elects-first-african-american-state-legislature-20-years-n576236?hootPostID=2658aefc68330bd8b1caea9d7bdb0fd3">opted to replace</a> Riner with Attica Scott. Scott, who faces no Republican opponent in November, will be the first African-American woman to hold a seat in the Kentucky legislature in 20 years.</p><p>As the race played out, Scott slammed Riner for his extremely conservative views.</p><p>“During the campaign it was really about highlighting that we needed a new voice and a fresh face in Frankfort,” Scott said. “We had this 34-year incumbent who was anti-LGBT and anti-women’s rights. He was a Democrat in name only and refused to caucus with the Democrats since the 1990s, so it was really about highlighting and exposing his record and lifting up my social justice agenda.”</p><p>Scott said Riner was “still stuck in the 1980s” and added, “We needed representation that was 21st Century thinking and forward thinking, and he was not that person.”</p><p>Indeed. Scott, in fact, is being charitable. Riner wasn’t stuck in the 1980s – more like the 1950s.</p><p>We wish him a happy retirement.</p></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/other-issues-regarding-churches-and-politics">Other Issues regarding Churches and Politics</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/descriptions-and-activities-religious-right-groups">Descriptions and Activities of Religious Right Groups</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/tom-riner">Tom Riner</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/claudia-riner">Claudia Riner</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/attica-scott">Attica Scott</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/liberty-counsel">Liberty Counsel</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/kentucky">kentucky</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/kim-davis">Kim Davis</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/ark-park">Ark Park</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/matt-bevin">Matt Bevin</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/ian-urbina">Ian Urbina</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/hillary-clinton">Hillary Clinton</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/bernie-sanders">Bernie Sanders</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/ken-ham">Ken Ham</a></span></div></div>Mon, 23 May 2016 15:31:00 +0000Rob Boston11976 at https://au.orghttps://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/bluegrass-bonanza-ky-theocrat-loses-grip-on-statehouse-seat#commentsNo Moore, Please: Ala. Chief Justice May Be Removed From The Bench https://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/no-moore-please-ala-chief-justice-may-be-removed-from-the-bench
<a href="/about/people/rob-boston">Rob Boston</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-callout field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore seems to believe he doesn&#039;t have to follow the law. </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>Word broke late Friday night that Roy Moore, chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, may be on the verge of losing his job – again.</p><p>When we last left the Ayatollah of Alabama, he was throwing a hissy-fit over marriage equality. That mean old U.S. Supreme Court had issued a ruling that had the effect of making marriage equality the law in all 50 states. Moore, channeling his inner Jefferson Davis, decided to nullify the decision.</p><p>Apropos of pretty much nothing, Moore on Jan. 6 issued a bizarre administrative order telling all probate judges in the state not to provide marriage licenses to same-sex couples. He insisted that an Alabama law barring same-sex marriage was still in effect.</p><p>It wasn’t. It had been eradicated by the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in <em><a href="http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/14pdf/14-556_3204.pdf">Obergefell v. Hodges</a></em>. Also, a federal court in Alabama had specifically ruled that Alabama probate judges were required by the <em>Obergefell</em> decision to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had reached the same conclusion. The matter was settled.</p><p>Thankfully, most probate judges in the state realized that Moore was grandstanding and ignored him.</p><p>At the time this happened, Americans United Executive Director Barry W. Lynn issued a press statement that read, “Roy Moore is the judicial equivalent of segregationists like George Wallace who stood in a schoolhouse door to block equality and freedom. Wallace lost, and Moore will lose too.”</p><p>That loss may come soon. Several complaints were filed against him, and the Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission <a href="http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2016/05/alabama_chief_justice_roy_moor_10.html">has forwarded charges</a> to the Alabama Court of the Judiciary for investigation. Moore has been suspended (with pay) while this plays out.</p><p>If this sounds familiar, there’s a reason. In 2003, Moore was removed from the Alabama high court after he disobeyed a federal court ruling and refused to take down a Ten Commandments monument from the Judicial Building in Montgomery. Americans United, the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Alabama branch of the American Civil Liberties Union had sued over that matter.</p><p>Do you sense a pattern here? Moore seems to believe he doesn’t have to follow the law. True to form, Moore is now insisting that the Inquiry Commission has no authority over him. He also blames his problems on <a href="http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2016/05/who_is_ambrosia_starling_roy_m.html#incart_article_small">Ambrosia Starling</a>, a transgender rights activist who has led protests against him.</p><p>“The Judicial Inquiry Commission has chosen to listen to people like Ambrosia Starling, a professed transvestite and other gay, lesbian and bisexual individuals, as well as organizations that support their agenda,” Moore carped to the news site AL.com.</p><p>Moore, aided by his attorney, the LGBT-bashing Mat Staver of Liberty Counsel, plans to vigorously contest the charges.</p><p>Note what is missing here: any amount of self-reflection or personal responsibility. It’s as if Moore is unable to grasp the fact that <em>his own actions</em> have led him to this place. If he hadn’t issued that goofy, clearly illegal order, none of this would be taking place.</p><p>But there may be a method to Moore’s madness. State judges in Alabama face mandatory retirement at age 70. Moore is 69. Since his time on the bench is winding down, all of this may be a stunt to keep his name in the spotlight as Moore positions himself for another shot at the governor’s mansion. (The current governor, Robert Bentley, is in mid-term but is facing <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/05/politics/alabama-governor-robert-bentley-impeachment/">possible impeachment</a> due to a sex scandal.)</p><p>Would Moore really be craven enough to do that? Sure. It’s either that or trying to eke out a living penning <a href="http://morallaw.org/america-the-beautiful-by-judge-roy-moore/">execrable poetry</a> and speaking on the Religious Right’s rubber chicken circuit, neither of which holds much promise for long-term employment.</p><p>No matter what Moore does in the future, one thing is clear: He should never be allowed near a courtroom again in any capacity. The man obviously has no respect for the law.</p><p> </p></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/descriptions-and-activities-religious-right-groups">Descriptions and Activities of Religious Right Groups</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/roy-moore">Roy Moore</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/alabama">Alabama</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/southern-poverty-law-center">Southern Poverty Law Center</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/aclu">ACLU</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/ambrosia-starling">Ambrosia Starling</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/mat-staver">Mat Staver</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/liberty-counsel">Liberty Counsel</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/marriage-equality-0">Marriage Equality</a></span></div></div>Mon, 09 May 2016 15:07:53 +0000Rob Boston11956 at https://au.orghttps://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/no-moore-please-ala-chief-justice-may-be-removed-from-the-bench#commentsPrivilege, Not Persecution: It’s Time For Fundamentalist Christians To Stop Whining https://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/privilege-not-persecution-it-s-time-for-fundamentalist-christians-to-stop
<a href="/about/people/rob-boston">Rob Boston</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-callout field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Most progressive and moderate faith leaders acknowledge their position of privilege and realize they have little grounds to complain in this free nation where we place a great premium on freedom of conscience. It’s the right-wing fundamentalists who won’t stop yapping about &#039;persecution.&#039; </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>Over the weekend, a movie called “God’s Not Dead 2” opened in theaters around the nation. I haven’t seen the film and don’t intend to -- I'm not going to give them my money, and if I'm going to watch a cheesy movie, I prefer one featuring rubber monsters battling for supremacy in Tokyo -- but I’ve been reading about it online.</p><p>Despite the “2” in its title, the film isn’t really a sequel. It’s a follow-up to an earlier movie. Both releases feature has-been and never-been actors and represent a fairly new genre in Christian filmmaking – call it the cinema of persecution.</p><p>The plot of “God’s Not Dead 2” concerns a public school teacher who is hauled into court for answering a student’s innocuous question about Jesus. The legal case somehow veers into questions of the existence of God and the truth of biblical accounts (something that simply could not happen in an American courtroom). At the end (spoiler alert!) a pastor is slapped in handcuffs and dragged off to jail for no good reason.</p><p>The film may find an audience among Christian fundamentalists who truly believe they are being persecuted. The rest of us will just have to sit back and laugh.</p><p>Persecution? Religion in America never had it so good. When I was writing my <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00F1W08LI/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?ie=UTF8&amp;btkr=1">2014 book</a> <em>Taking Liberties: Why Religious Freedom Doesn’t Give You The Right To Tell Other People What To Do</em>, I did some research into the many privileges extended to religious groups in America. Here are just a few:</p><p>* They receive complete tax exemption by mere dint of their existence. Unlike other non-profits, houses of worship, ministerial groups and religious entities don’t have to apply for tax-exempt status. They are assumed to have it as soon as they form.</p><p>* They are exempt from mandatory financial reporting laws. Most secular non-profits must once a year file a detailed financial document (a Form 990) with the IRS that must be made available for public inspection. Houses of worship are exempt from this requirement.</p><p>* Special laws govern church audits. Secular groups can be audited at the merest suspicion of wrong-doing. By act of Congress, proposed audits for houses of worship are subjected to heightened scrutiny. All church audits must be approved by a high-ranking IRS official.</p><p>* Non-religious non-profits are restricted in the amount of lobbying they can do at the federal level. Under federal law, churches and their “integrated auxiliary” groups are exempt from these regulations. They are not required to report how much lobbying they do or how much they spend to do it. Only a handful of states apply any oversight to church lobbying.</p><p>* Religious groups are often treated with great deference by secular authorities. It is often difficult to bring the leaders of large and powerful religious groups to justice, even when they have clearly committed crimes. If you doubt this, consider the pedophilia crisis in the Catholic Church.</p><p>Now, just to be clear, there are plenty of religious leaders who look at a list like this (and it is by no means comprehensive) and feel grateful for it. Most progressive and moderate faith leaders acknowledge their position of privilege and realize they have little grounds to complain in this free nation where we place a great premium on freedom of conscience. (Many progressive religious leaders, instead of crying about phony persecution in the United States, spend their time advocating on behalf of people in other countries who suffering from <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/re-energizing-blasphemy-law-egypt-prosecutes-for-a-facebook-post-on-sheep/2016/03/30/2fb4ee9c-df42-11e5-8c00-8aa03741dced_story.html">real forms of religious persecution</a>.)</p><p>It’s the right-wing fundamentalists who won’t stop yapping about “persecution.” So what really is this “persecution”? More often than not, it’s one of two things: spirited opposition to fundamentalist attempts to run our lives or reasonable requests from non-Christian or non-theistic groups for some of the same rights the fundamentalists take for granted.</p><p>Remember some of the recent flaps over Muslim groups seeking the right to build and open mosques? In one Tennessee county, Muslims had to <a href="http://www.thewire.com/national/2014/02/fight-over-tennessee-mosque-has-cost-one-county-343276-so-far/358054/">fight in court</a> for years for that right. How often does this happen to Christian groups in America?</p><p>Or think about the situation that is currently playing out in at a public high school in Franklin County, Tenn. Students there have launched a Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) and seek the <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/education/2016/03/16/3760305/gay-straight-alliance/">same right to meet</a> that is already cheerfully extended to two Christian clubs at the school. Some people in town have raised such a fuss that the school board is considering placing restrictions on student groups with the aim of shutting out the GSA. The Liberty Counsel, a Religious Right group run by attorney Mat Staver, has offered to assist the school board in its scheme to find a way to snuff the GSA out of existence.</p><p>Incidents like this expose groups like the Liberty Counsel and the larger Religious Right movement for the hypocrites that they are. Imagine the stink Staver would be raising right now if this school were trying to stop conservative Christian students from meeting. He’d be huffing and puffing about "persecution" and threatening a lawsuit, yet he doesn’t want an identically situated non-religious student group to have that right – even though <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/20/4071">a federal law</a> guarantees it to them.</p><p>There is some religious persecution in America – but it’s hardly affecting the conservative Christian community. Their position is one of privilege, and it’s high time they acknowledged that.</p><p>P.S. “God’s Not Dead 2” wasn’t screened for critics prior to release – a sure sign it’s a dog. The film has a 14 percent “fresh” rating on the aggregator site <a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/gods_not_dead_2/">Rotten Tomatoes</a>. Of course, for hard-core believers in the Religious Right’s persecution narrative, this is just proof that secular elites are trying to drag down the movie. It becomes proof of more persecution!</p><p> </p></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/descriptions-and-activities-religious-right-groups">Descriptions and Activities of Religious Right Groups</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/godsnot-dead-2">God&#039;sNot Dead 2</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/liberty-counsel">Liberty Counsel</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/mat-staver">Mat Staver</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/franklin-county">Franklin County</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/tennessee">Tennessee</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/gay-straight-alliance">gay-straight alliance</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/rotten-tomatoes">rotten tomatoes</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/internal-revenue-service">internal revenue service</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/tax-exemption">tax exemption</a></span></div></div>Mon, 04 Apr 2016 14:44:11 +0000Rob Boston11873 at https://au.orghttps://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/privilege-not-persecution-it-s-time-for-fundamentalist-christians-to-stop#commentsState Of Disunion: FRC Head Uses Fear To Motivate His Base https://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/state-of-disunion-frc-head-uses-fear-to-motivate-his-base
<a href="/about/people/simon-brown">Simon Brown</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-callout field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Perkins uses fear and anger in the hope of creating an America in his own image. </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>President Barack Obama’s <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/13/us/politics/obama-state-of-the-union.html?hp&amp;action=click&amp;pgtype=Homepage&amp;clickSource=story-heading&amp;module=a-lede-package-region&amp;region=top-news&amp;WT.nav=top-news&amp;_r=0">State of the Union Address</a> last night was partly an attempt to calm a nation that is filled with anxiety. His words also offered a stark contrast to those of a Religious Right leader who seems to enjoy fanning the flames of fear.</p><p>Obama asked: “Will we respond to the changes of our time with fear, turning inward as a nation, and turning against each other as a people? Or will we face the future with confidence in who we are, what we stand for, and the incredible things we can do together?”</p><p>If it were up to Family Research Council (FRC) President Tony Perkins, America would choose that first path.</p><p>In what FRC called a “<a href="http://www.frc.org/sotf">State of the Family</a>” address on Monday, Perkins spent 30 minutes complaining about Obama, praising those who discriminate against LGBT people and rallying fundamentalist Christians ahead of the November elections.</p><p>Early in his talk, Perkins asserted that “there can be no liberty in America without religious liberty.” He’s right about that. The problem is, his concept of “religious freedom” extends only to people who agree with him on theology – like Kim Davis.</p><p>Davis, who <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/12/politics/state-of-the-union-kim-davis/index.html">also attended the State of the Union address</a>, was in the audience for Perkins’ diatribe along with her attorney, Mat Staver of the anti-gay Liberty Counsel. Perkins said Davis “stood strong” when she <a href="https://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/name-game-ky-gov-issues-order-permitting-kim-davis-to-remove-her-moniker">refused to issue marriage licenses</a> to same-sex couples while also refusing to allow her deputy clerks to do so. These actions eventually landed her in jail.</p><p>Then Perkins uttered the least-believable line of his entire speech. He praised Staver, whom he said “successfully argued for [Davis’] release.” I’m not an attorney, but it’s my understanding that lawyers normally try to keep their clients out of jail. There, Staver failed. And Davis was released only after she agreed to stop preventing other clerks in her office from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Staver’s lawyering had nothing to do with that. </p><p>Perkins also called the U.S. Supreme Court’s marriage equality ruling “a devastating principled loss for all of us,” but he praised the defeat of the <a href="https://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/no-hero-worship-houston-pastors-fight-broad-anti-discrimination-ordinance">Houston Equal Rights Ordinance</a>, which included a provision that would have given transgender individuals and others protections against discrimination. Perkins called that concept “nonsense,” showing how truly callously he views the civil rights of transgender Americans.</p><p>Since this was a “State of the Family” sermon, Perkins tried to convince his audience that traditional families are disintegrating. Obama, of course, is to blame.</p><p>“President Obama has extolled the virtues of fatherhood even as he has fought for same-sex marriage, in essence saying two same-gendered persons can parent as well as a mom and a dad,” Perkins opined. “And we pay a price for this incoherent ideological campaign with havoc in our homes and blood in our streets.”</p><p>Yikes. It’s unclear what sort of violence Perkins is talking about, and as is usually the case he offered no evidence whatsoever to support his claim that children are better off being raised by a man and a woman. That’s because there isn’t any. Research has shown that the children of same-sex parents fare no better or worse than the children of opposite-sex couples. </p><p>Perkins even attempted to portray the Founding Fathers as a bunch of fundamentalist zealots who “believed that the best account of our personal and civic duties…[is the] transcendent truths of scripture itself.”</p><p>Where did Perkins get that idea? He made it up. Nowhere did the founders say that American law is based on the Bible, and if Perkins would actually take the time to read the Constitution he would find no references to Christianity, Jesus Christ or even God therein. </p><p>Perkins closed his remarks with a plea for Americans to become politically active. But in actuality, he only wants certain kinds of Christians to take up the cause – the fundamentalist zealots who agree with him.</p><p>“I call upon all Americans, especially those who have faith in our lord, Jesus Christ, to pray, organize, donate, speak to your neighbors, proclaim truth in your views boldly,” he said. “We must do all of these things.”</p><p>For regular observers of the Religious Right, nothing Perkins said should come as a shock. But it is sad that he is able to circulate many of the same, tired old falsehoods. He does this because he does not want to “face the future with confidence” and achieve “incredible things” as Obama hoped. Instead, Perkins uses fear and anger with the goal of creating an America in his own image. If his allies do rally in November, he may get his wish.</p></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/descriptions-and-activities-religious-right-groups">Descriptions and Activities of Religious Right Groups</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/tony-perkins">Tony Perkins</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/kim-davis">Kim Davis</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/mat-staver">Mat Staver</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/family-research-council">Family Research Council</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/barack-obama">Barack Obama</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/founding-fathers">Founding Fathers</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/marriage-equality-0">Marriage Equality</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/liberty-counsel">Liberty Counsel</a></span></div></div>Wed, 13 Jan 2016 17:11:44 +0000Simon Brown11670 at https://au.orghttps://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/state-of-disunion-frc-head-uses-fear-to-motivate-his-base#commentsLiberty To Force Fundamentalism Onto Others?https://au.org/church-state/november-2015-church-state/featured/liberty-to-force-fundamentalism-onto-others
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>You could say Liberty Counsel had a bad September.</p><p>When Mat Staver, founder of the Religious Right legal group, announced that Pope Francis secretly met with his client, Kim Davis, during the recent U.S. papal tour, it should have been a moment of glory for the organization.</p><p>Francis, after all, had been crowned a liberal darling by many for statements that exhorted Catholic clergy to show more compassion to LGBT people. And Davis was known primarily for her refusal to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples in Rowan County, Ky. A Vatican endorsement for her religious-freedom claim would have represented a public relations coup for the Orlando, Fla.,-based group, even though Staver and Davis are Protestants.</p><p>“He [Francis] held out his hand, and she clasped his hands and held them,” Staver told <em>The Washington</em> <em>Post</em>. In a statement on the Liberty Counsel’s website, he also insisted the pope encouraged her to “stay strong.”</p><p>But many journalists refused to believe the meeting had even happened.</p><p>That’s arguably Staver’s fault. Just two days prior to his papal announcement, he’d been forced to retract a very public claim about international support for Davis’ case.</p><p>During a brief appearance at the recent Values Voter Summit in Washington, D.C., Staver displayed a photo that purportedly showed roughly 100,000 Peruvian Christians gathered at a prayer meeting on Davis’ behalf.</p><p>“That, my friends, is happening around the world,” a beaming Staver announced to the rapturous crowd. “When one person stands it has an impact, and Kim Davis will continue to stand for her lord and savior Jesus Christ.”</p><p>Except that isn’t what the photo showed at all.</p><p>The progressive site ThinkProgress investigated the photo and discovered that it showed a Peruvian prayer rally that had taken place in 2014. Obviously the event hadn’t been organized for Davis, who was a non-entity then. Staver doubled down on the claim before finally issuing a retraction. It didn’t do much for his reputation, which was already tarnished for his virulent anti-gay politics.</p><p>If Staver misled people about the prayer meeting, observers reasoned, maybe he’d fib about the pope, too.</p><p>The Vatican eventually delivered him from disgrace – to a certain extent. Vatican spokesman the Rev. Frederico Lombardi confirmed the meeting to <em>The New York Times</em> but refused to provide any further information about what Francis may have said to Davis. Later, Lombardi told press the meeting should not be construed as support for the clerk’s religious freedom claims. (See more on this in “People &amp; Events.”)</p><p>What did Liberty Counsel hope to gain from the meeting? If the group hoped the pope would issue a more specific endorsement of its work, Staver and company were disappointed. And Francis has no authority to influence the outcome of Davis’ case, even if he’d wanted to.</p><p>To Liberty Counsel’s critics, the claim of a papal endorsement was simply the latest in a long line of desperate stunts.</p><p>There’s little debate that the organization, founded in 1989, is indeed desperate. Staver recently failed to convince a series of federal courts Davis deserved a religious exemption from authorizing marriage licenses. The U.S. Supreme Court refused to grant him so much as a hearing.</p><p>Now Davis has nearly exhausted her legal options, and legal experts say there’s not much Staver and his group can do to give her a victory in court. The case is considered difficult even by many in the Religious Right, since Davis is an elected official who has used her legal authority to completely block her deputy clerks from issuing marriage licenses to anyone.</p><p>It’s unclear whether Staver genuinely believed he could win a religious exemption for Davis. Some gay-rights activists have theorized that his group is actually manipulating the clerk to further an extreme agenda and oversold her chances of legal victory. If that’s true, it wouldn’t be the first time Liberty Counsel has prioritized anti-gay animus over rational legal strategy.</p><p>In 2012, Staver and his firm signed up to represent Scott Lively, an anti-gay preacher who’s facing a lawsuit for his activities in Uganda. In his book <em>The Pink Swastika</em> and other materials, Lively argues that LGBT activists orchestrated the Holocaust. He has traveled frequently to promote that view and to encourage the restriction of civil rights for LGBT people.</p><p>The suit, filed by Sexual Minorities Uganda with the assistance of the Center for Constitutional Rights, traced rising rates of vigilante violence against LGBT people, and the country’s repeated attempts to punish homosexuality with jail and even death, to Lively’s missionary work there. It’s considered a novel test of the Alien Torts Statute.</p><p>Staver and his team have repeatedly failed to convince a Massachusetts court to toss the case. <em>Sexual Minorities Uganda v. Scott Lively</em> is ongoing.</p><p>Staver is fond of extreme positions. He has long predicted a near apocalypse for the United States if the high court legalized same-sex marriage. For years, he railed against the prospect of marriage equality and frequently implied it would result in the persecution of pastors and other clergy.</p><p>“This is something that I believe is the beginning of the end of Wes­t­­ern Civilization.You can’t simply redefine and pretend that ontological differences between men and women do not exist. This will have consequences,” Staver told WorldNetDaily Radio last year.</p><p>He had a solution, though, one that Staver repeatedly emphasized both in interviews and in the classes he once taught as dean of Liberty University’s law school: Christians should be prepared to commit civil disobedience.</p><p>In June, the <em>Christian Post</em> reported that Staver appeared at a pastors’ conference to warn audience members of “ideologues” who would “override” their religious-freedom rights.</p><p>“This is not a call for lone believers to fall on their swords,” he added. “It is a call for us to speak for each other and stand together and even to suffer together. Like Esther facing the unjust laws of the Persian Empire, we must pray, then we must stiffen our spines. May God help us remain faithful, whatever the cost.”</p><p>That’s extreme rhetoric, but Staver’s capable of much worse. Right Wing Watch reports that at the Reclaiming America for Christ conference this year, he warned that marriage equality would “lead America into the pit of hell.” In a recent editorial for BarbWire, a conservative site, he lamented the decriminalization of homosexuality.</p><p>Staver’s unconventional legal strategy and obsessive anti-gay stance also embroiled his former employer in a lawsuit.</p><p>During his tenure as dean of Liberty University’s law school, Staver represented self-proclaimed “ex-lesbian” Lisa Miller in her fight to win custody of her daughter from her former partner, Janet Jenkins. When she lost her legal battle, Miller fled to Nicaragua with the child. One individual – Pastor Kenneth Miller, a Mennonite – has already been convicted for his role in the kidnapping. (The two Millers are not related.)</p><p>Lisa Miller also has strong ties to the Liberty University community. After her split from Jenkins, she moved to Lynchburg, Va., and began to attend Thomas Road Baptist Church on Liberty’s campus. There’s strong evidence that church elders helped her flee.</p><p>In a 2012 Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act lawsuit, Jenkins accused the elders of working with members of Kenneth Miller’s anti-gay Beachy Amish-Mennonite Brotherhood to smuggle Lisa Miller to Nicaragua. Liberty University’s anti-gay stance, she argues, makes it and Thomas Road liable.</p><p>The lawsuit directly implicates Staver.</p><p>The allegations hinge on calls made by Philip Zodhiates, a Thomas Road member who drove Miller to the Canadian border and to a cell phone and landline registered to Liberty Counsel. (His daughter also works at the law school.) Staver insists he never received the calls and didn’t know that Zodhiates had decided to help Miller leave the country.</p><p>The suit also alleges that law school employees “were too intimidated to come forward to law enforcement for fear of angering Dean Staver and losing their jobs” and that Staver and his co-counsel, Rena Lindevaldsen, had long taught the case at the law school as an example of justified civil disobedience.</p><p>These claims appear to be based on a 2011 Religion Dispatches report by Sarah Posner. Posner interviewed several Liberty law students for the account.</p><p>“One student said, ‘The idea was when you are confronted with a particular situation, for instance, if you have a court order against you that is in violation of what you see as God’s law, essentially… civil disobedience was the answer,’” Posner reported.</p><p>Another student stated that there was “not a lot of shock” about the case and added, “Everybody semi-suspected that Liberty Counsel had something to do with her disappearance.”</p><p>That lawsuit is ongoing.</p><p>Staver resigned from his role as dean last year. In public statements, he claimed he’d decided to step down to care for his wife Anita, who had been injured in a car accident, but some speculate he hadn’t left the school of his own free will.</p><p>The school struggled after Staver became its dean in 2006. A mere 50 percent of its graduates passed the Virginia bar in July 2014; the state average was 68 percent. Liberty University officials have stated that they are looking for a candidate who can improve those numbers.</p><p>Without a role at Liberty’s law school, Staver’s only source of fame – and income – is now Liberty Counsel, but its long-term sustainability may be in doubt. He was almost entirely absent from this year’s Values Voter Summit, appearing only once to introduce Kim Davis as she received the Family Research Council’s “Cost of Discipleship” award.</p><p>A review of Liberty Counsel’s Form 990, a financial statement that non-profit groups are required to file annually with the Internal Revenue Service and make available to the public, shows that it pulls in about $4.2 million annual, barely half the income of Plano, Texas-based Liberty Institute, its next smallest direct competitor. Both groups are dwarfed by Alliance Defending Freedom, with an annual budget approaching $40 million.</p><p>(Actually, it’s remarkable that financial information about Liberty Counsel is even available. For several years, the group claimed to be a church auxiliary and refused to file the Form 990.)</p><p>In the wake of the Kim Davis flap, Liberty Counsel found itself under closer scrutiny. An Associated Press story about the group published last month noted that the Southern Poverty Law Center has labeled Liberty Counsel a hate group for its anti-LGBT rhetoric.</p><p>Barry W. Lynn, Americans Uni­ted’s executive director, told the AP that he is underwhelmed by Liberty Counsel’s legal strategy.</p><p>“There is an enormous amount of bluster amid his legal arguments,” Lynn observed. “It looks to me like he’s making claims that will get his clients great publicity, but not necessarily get them victories.”</p><p>Indeed, AU and other critics charge that much of Liberty Counsel’s work is driven by fund-raising. The organization has relentlessly attacked the religious neutrality of public schools, sometimes showing a reckless disregard for the facts. </p><p>In 2005, for example, Liberty Coun­sel assailed a public school in Dodgeville, Wisc., and accused officials of rewriting the song “Silent Night” to remove religious references in a school play. Soon, the Fox News Channel was portraying the school as Exhibit A in the “war on Christmas.”</p><p>In fact, the school had merely presented a popular play titled “The Little Tree’s Christmas Gift.” Written in 1988 by a church choir director, the play centers on a scrawny Christmas tree that wants a home for the holidays. The play uses several familiar Christmas carols with different lyrics to fit its theme of homelessness.</p><p>Education officials in Dodgeville had to deal with a flood of hate mail and calls. In 2006, school attorney Eileen A. Brownlee wrote to Staver and requested $23,899.48 in compensation for costs that the district incurred in refuting Liberty Counsel’s lies.</p><p>“Your dissemination of false and misleading information and your threats of specious and frivolous litigation resulted in enormous cost to the district,” wrote Brownlee. “You have yet to present the facts either through a press release, one of your ‘alerts’ or through any other means. You used this red herring to attempt to collect money through the form of donations.”</p><p>The school system never got a dime, of course.</p><p>Liberty Counsel has stretched the truth in other instances. In 2012, the group released a DVD imploring pastors to jump into partisan politics. Liberty Counsel falsely claimed that no house of worship had ever lost its tax-exempt status for politicking, a claim that would surprise the Church at Pierce Creek in Binghamton, N.Y., which was stripped of this status after it ran newspaper ads telling people not to vote for Bill Clinton in 1992.</p><p>In 2010, the group issued baseball-style trading cards attacking “liberals” who oppose its work. A card for AU’s Lynn called him the “founder” of Americans United, even though Lynn hadn’t been born when AU was founded in 1947. It also falsely accused AU of harassing “Christian groups and churches in an attempt to question their tax-exempt status.”</p><p>The list goes on: Earlier this year, Liberty Counsel tried to intimidate a Montana school district that cancelled a trip to a creationist museum following an Americans United complaint. Liberty Counsel argued that the school’s decision to cancel amounted to “viewpoint discrimination,” an absurd assertion that no court has ever adopted.</p><p>In 2012, the group tried to persuade officials in Santa Monica, Calif., to adopt a holiday display policy that would have had the effect of favoring religious groups. AU said the proposal would have landed the city in court.</p><p>For many years, Liberty Counsel – which declined comment for this story – labored in the shadow of larger Religious Right legal groups like TV preacher Pat Robertson’s American Center for Law and Justice and Alliance Defending Freedom.</p><p>In this crowded field, Liberty Counsel seems to have found its niche: taking on quixotic cases involving people like Davis who make good copy for the far right but can’t win in court.</p><p>It’s an odd place for a law firm, but Liberty Counsel occupies it well. </p></div></div><a href="/about/people/ms-sarah-e-jones">Sarah E. Jones</a><h3 >Spurred By Its Defense Of Kim Davis, A Religious Right Legal Group Finds Itself Thrust Into The&nbsp;Spotlight</h3><div class="field field-name-field-cs-department field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Featured</div></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/workplace-discrimination-exemptions-religious-practice">Discrimination, Exemptions &amp; Religious Practice in the Workplace</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/outside-workplace-discrimination-exemptions-religious-practice-including-military-prisons">Institutional Discrimination, Exemptions &amp; Religious Practice (Including Immigration, Military, Prisons &amp; Healthcare)</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/religious-refusals-and-rfra">Religious Refusals and RFRA</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/descriptions-and-activities-religious-right-groups">Descriptions and Activities of Religious Right Groups</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/legal-foundations-church-state-separation">Legal Foundations of Church-State Separation</a></span></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-cs-issue field-type-node-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Magazine Issue:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><article id="node-11500" class="node node-church-state-issue clearfix">
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<h3 class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/november-2015-church-state/featured/lost-weekend">Lost Weekend</a></h3>
<h4>Partisanship And Extremism On Display At The Religious Right&#039;s Values Voter Summit</h4> </div>
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<h3 class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/november-2015-church-state/featured/christians-only-prayer">&#039;Christians-Only&#039; Prayer?</a></h3>
<h4>Arizona Town Drops Controversial Invocation Policy After Americans United Complaint</h4> </div>
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<h3 class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/november-2015-church-state/featured/liberty-to-force-fundamentalism-onto-others">Liberty To Force Fundamentalism Onto Others?</a></h3>
<h4>Spurred By Its Defense Of Kim Davis, A Religious Right Legal Group Finds Itself Thrust Into The Spotlight</h4> </div>
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<h3 class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/november-2015-church-state/featured/americans-united-in-action">Americans United in Action</a></h3>
<h4>Staff Members and Activists Support Church-State Separation Nationwide</h4> </div>
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<div class="cs-department" id="section-people--events"> <h3>People &amp; Events</h3>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/november-2015-church-state/people-events/controversy-swirls-over-pope-s-meeting-with">Controversy Swirls Over Pope’s Meeting With Kim Davis During D.C. Visit</a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/november-2015-church-state/people-events/oregon-bakery-owners-decline-to-pay-fine-over">Oregon Bakery Owners Decline To Pay Fine Over Wedding Refusal </a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/november-2015-church-state/people-events/nj-town-drops-sponsorship-of-papal-mass-after">N.J. Town Drops Sponsorship Of Papal Mass After AU Complaint</a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/november-2015-church-state/people-events/carson-says-muslims-are-not-fit-to-be">Carson Says Muslims Are Not Fit To Be President Of United States </a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/november-2015-church-state/people-events/right-wing-legal-group-attacks-americans">Right-Wing Legal Group Attacks Americans United, AU Attorney Fires Back</a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/november-2015-church-state/people-events/au-warns-kan-official-to-stop-promoting">AU Warns Kan. Official To Stop Promoting Religious Events To Employees</a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/november-2015-church-state/people-events/ala-county-police-cars-lose-bible-verse-decals">Ala. County Police Cars Lose Bible Verse Decals Following AU Intervention</a></span> </div></li>
</ul></div><div class="cs-department" id="section-books--ideas"> <h3>Books &amp; Ideas</h3>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/november-2015-church-state/books-ideas/teaching-not-preaching">Teaching, Not Preaching</a></span> </div></li>
</ul></div><div class="cs-department" id="section-perspective"> <h3>Perspective</h3>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/november-2015-church-state/perspective/dakota-denver-and-the-desert-details-from-a">Dakota, Denver, And The Desert: Details From A Recent Trip</a></span> </div></li>
</ul></div><div class="cs-department" id="section-editorial"> <h3>Editorial</h3>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/november-2015-church-state/editorial/dismissing-jefferson-more-bad-history-from-the">Dismissing Jefferson: More Bad History From The Religious Right </a></span> </div></li>
</ul></div><div class="cs-department" id="section-au-bulletin"> <h3>AU Bulletin</h3>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/november-2015-church-state/au-bulletin/au-opposes-religious-exemptions-in-health-care">AU Opposes Religious Exemptions In Health-Care Law</a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/november-2015-church-state/au-bulletin/okla-officials-remove-ten-commandment-monument">Okla. Officials Remove Ten Commandment Monument</a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/november-2015-church-state/au-bulletin/la-christian-school-closes-after-loss-of-voucher">La. Christian School Closes After Loss Of Voucher Aid </a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/november-2015-church-state/au-bulletin/tenn-county-official-proposes-god-s-wrath">Tenn. County Official Proposes ‘God’s Wrath’ Resolution</a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/november-2015-church-state/au-bulletin/federal-court-tosses-w-va-anti-evolution-lawsuit">Federal Court Tosses W. Va. Anti-Evolution Lawsuit</a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/november-2015-church-state/au-bulletin/ala-city-cites-religion-to-ban-saggy-pants">Ala. City Cites Religion To Ban Saggy Pants </a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/november-2015-church-state/au-bulletin/calif-archdiocese-must-face-sexual-harassment">Calif. Archdiocese Must Face Sexual Harassment Suit</a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/november-2015-church-state/au-bulletin/around-the-world-malaysian-high-court-limits">Around The World: Malaysian High Court Limits Freedom Of Expression</a></span> </div></li>
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</div></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/mat-staver">Mat Staver</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/liberty-counsel">Liberty Counsel</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/kim-davis">Kim Davis</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/protect-thy-neighbor">Protect Thy Neighbor</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/lgbt-rights">LGBT rights</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/religious-refusals">Religious Refusals</a></span></div></div>Sun, 01 Nov 2015 00:00:00 +0000Timothy Ritz11503 at https://au.orghttps://au.org/church-state/november-2015-church-state/featured/liberty-to-force-fundamentalism-onto-others#comments